"For the millions of Americans who want spirituality without religion, Sam Harris's new book is a guide to meditation as a rational spiritual practice informed by neuroscience and psychology. Waking Up is for the 30 percent of Americans who follow no religion, but who suspect that Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Rumi, and the other saints and sages of history could not have all been epileptics, schizophrenics, or frauds. Throughout the book, Harris argues...

U.S. Army war veteran Hazel Motes may not be a believing Christian, but he somehow makes observations about the state of a run-down country church and understands that there are ridiculous frauds on the streets. When a cab driver insists he looks like a preacher in his new hat, Hazel takes on the part. He starts his own new Church of Truth, without the crucified Jesus. His first disciple is an 18-year old simpleton with a 'prophetic gift.'